Duplicate content is blocks of content that are identical or very similar across multiple URLs, either within one site or across different sites. Most of it is accidental, caused by URL variations rather than copying.
Why it matters
Search engines usually pick one version to show and may filter the rest, so you lose control over which URL ranks and your link signals can be divided. Google does not generally apply a penalty for ordinary duplication, but deliberate scraping to manipulate rankings is spam.
Syndicated articles should link back to the original and, where possible, carry a canonical tag pointing to it, so the original source is understood.
Example
All of these may serve the same page:
http://example.com/page
https://example.com/page
https://www.example.com/page
https://example.com/page/
https://example.com/page?ref=newsThe fix is one preferred version through 301 redirects and a canonical tag.
Common mistakes
- Reusing manufacturer descriptions across hundreds of product pages.
- Letting both www and non-www versions return 200.
- Blocking duplicates in robots.txt instead of consolidating them.
Related
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